AMERICAN LEGION: Bordentown knocks off WW-P in early-season test

PRINCETON JCT. — The faces may change but the battles remain the same.

The Bordentown Post 26 and West Windsor-Plainsboro American Legion baseball teams were two of the best the in Mercer County a year ago, and the same has been true early in the 2013 season.

In fact, when the two squads met at WW-P High South Wednesday, neither had a loss.

It took nine innings of the nail-biting baseball fans have come to expect from these two upper echelon clubs before Bordentown won out, 8-3.

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Before the fateful ninth, Post 26’s top pitcher Zack Gakeler and WW-P’s ace Paul Balestrieri were locked in a tight contest, which the home team actually led, 3-2, heading into the seventh.

But with the help of a couple of newcomers from NJSIAA Group III state runner-up Burlington Township, Bordentown Legion was able to tie the game, then rally again with two outs in the top of the ninth.

“This game reminded me a lot of our high school team,” said Post 26 outfielder Ronnie Grant, a senior from Burlington Township. “We kept fighting and kept coming back.”

Grant, a newcomer to the Legion team, played a big part in the rallies in the seventh and ninth. His infield single off WW-P reliever Jack Liang in the seventh helped put runners at the corners with one out after Pedro Perez walked and stole second base. Grant also stole second before Perez crossed the plate on Mike Kendall’s ground out to knot the score at 3.

In the ninth after Perez again walked and stole second base with two outs, Grant sent a chopper toward second base, which took a high hop over WW-P infielder Ryan Dontas to give Post 26 (3-0) the lead and ignite a five-run surge. Kendall followed with an RBI double before Cullen Carter doubled in two more and Mike Scaringelli doubled in another to put the game out of reach.

“It seems no matter what happens, it doesn’t change between us and them,” WW-P catcher Pat Boyle, who is a veteran of the Mercer County American Legion League wars. “We stayed in the game and fought back. I have to believe that if (Grant’s) ball doesn’t bounce high in the air over second, we would have had a shot to win it in the bottom of the ninth.”

Boyle did all he could to put the home team in a position for the win. Even though Gakeler struck out 11 WW-P batters, Boyle touched him for three hits, including an RBI triple in the fifth, which tied the game at 2.

It was a different story when Burlington Township pitcher Ryan Bell took over in the seventh. He retired Boyle in both trips on his way to the mound win.

WW-P (3-1) tried its best to avoid its first setback after Dontas scored on a passed ball in the sixth to put the home team up. But Bordentown was able to prevail by stranding 10 of the 15 runners WW-P left on base in scoring position.